Fox Executive Happy With New Idol Season, Says Big Surprise Coming

Last year, American Idol finally showed some imperfection – the ratings machine actually experienced some major drops and, while it remained strong, it didn’t perform as well as it has in the past.  I think that’s probably one good reason why they brought in Kara DioGuardi as a fourth judge.  People needed to see something fresh and, so far, it’s going well.

Fox executive, Mike Darnell (I would have never guessed he was a Fox executive, sat down and talked with Television Week about this eighth season and he had some interesting things to say.  He talked about how Kara is fitting in and how they plan to focus more on the “reality” aspect of the show by giving viewers a more behind-the-scenes look at the lives of the contestants.  He also said that when the show gets to the Top 12, we will see a big surprise!  He said that it’s not going to be something that changes how we think of American Idol, but it will be something that people will talk about.  I wonder what it could be!  Any ideas?